Machine for applying caps to bottles



Oct. 13,1931. w GQEWEY 1,826,930

MACHINE FOR APPLYING GAPS T0 BOTTLES Filed Nov. 16. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gmentoz ethane 1 H. w. GQEWEY 1,826,930 I MACHINE FOR APPLYING CAPS TO BOTTLES Oct. 13,: 1931.

2 Sheets-Shear 2 Filed NOV. 16, 192

Patented Oct. 13, 1931 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE HAROLD W. GOEWEY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO PARKE DAVIS 80 COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN MACHINE FOR APPLYING GAPS TO BOTTLES Application filed November 16, 1927. Serial No. 283,615.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in machines for applying caps to bottles and more particularly to a machine especially adapted for applying gelatine or viscose capsules over the stoppers or corks of bottles.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine by means of which the bottles are fed through a cap holder over which a gelam tine capsule has been placed by the operator so thatthe cap will be placed over the stopper or cork of the bottle as the bottle is forced therethrough.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel form of cap holder and bottle guide so disposed that a cap can be readily placed in position thereon so that when the bottle is forced between the guide, the cap will be expanded so as to extend over the i stopper or cork and the neck of the bottle.

Another and further object of my invention is to provide a machine for placing caps over bottles which eliminates the breakm of the cap and provides means for expan ing 8 and guiding the cap so that the neck of the bottle will be forced through the guide, whereby it is only necessary for the operator to place a cap on the guide in order that the cap will be properly positioned upon the 39 bottle neck over the stopper or cork.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a bottle capping machine which is extremely simple in constructiom the parts being so mounted that they are not likely to get out of order in operation, the bottles being fed one at a time from the bottle support through the guide so that the bottles drop from the guide with the cap properly placed upon the bottle neck.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a bottle capping machine;

Figure 2 is a detail horizontal section show ing the bottle in position between the guide just prior to having the cap placed thereon;

Figure 3 is a side elevation partly in section showing the position of the bottle and cap between the guide;

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of the guide;

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of a slightly modified form of the guide in which the fingers converge towards one another;

Figure 6 is a detail view of a bottle showing the cap in position thereon;

Figure 7 is a side elevation partly in section of another form of bottle capping machine showing a bottle supporting means in the form of a tray movably mounted so that the various rows of bottles within the tray can be moved in position to be forced one at a time through the cap applying means;

Figure 8 is a detail front elevation of a portion of the machine showing the tray in position and the cap holding fingers;

Figure 9 is a detail top plan view showing the guide fingers with a cap in section disposed therein; and

Figure 10 is a similar view showing a bottle as it is moved through the guide fingers so that the cap will be expanded.

In the embodiment of my invention as shown in Figures 1 to 4, I employ a table 1 on which is mounted a bottle support herein shown in the form of a hopper 2 in which the bottles are adapted to be arranged upon one another, said hopper having a discharge opening '3 through which the bottles are adapted to be forced as will be later described.

The opposite wall of the hopper 2 is provided with an opening 4 through which is adapted to work a plunger 5 for forcing the bottles through the discharge opening 3 when the plunger 5 is reciprocated. The plunger is of such a size that only one bottle is forced outwardly at a time.

The plunger 5 is preferably reciprocated by a cable 6 to which is connected a treadle 7 which is adapted to be pressed downwardly by the foot of the operator so as to force the plunger through the hopper to discharge one of the bottles therefrom.

The plunger 5 is returned when the tree dle is released by cable 8 to which is connected a weight 9, the cables 6 and 8 belng preferably connected to a member 10 carried by the plunger and working in a slot 11 formed in the table, it, of course, being understood that the plunger is arranged in a suitable guide way so that it is guided as it reciprocates.

While I have shown manually operating means for reciprocating the plunger 5, it is, of course, understood that automatic means might be employed as shown in dotted lines inFigure 1, in which 12 indicates a pitman rod having one of its ends connected to the member 10 and the other end to a wrist pin 13 mounted on a gear 14 which is driven by a ar 15 of a motor 16.

lexible guide members 17 and 18 are secured to the hopper to each side of outlet 3 which converge towards one another and are provided with bifurcated ends to form fingers 17 and 18 which are normally in contact with one another. These fingers are preferably formed tapered so that when a cap as shown at 19 is placed thereon, the cap will be slightly expanded at its edge;

The cap 19 is in the nature of a gelatine or viscose capsule and is first soaked in water and the operator places one of these caps on the fingers 17 and 18 and presses on the treadle and the plunger forces one of the bottles out of the hopper through the discha hge opening 3 into the guide and between the. ngers containing the cap and as the operator has his hand on the cap, the stopper 20 of the bottle 21 is forced into the cap and at the same time as the bottle is forced through the guide, the cap is forced off of the fin ers.

In the modification shown in Fi ure 5, the ends of the guide members 22 an 23 terminate in fingers 24 and 25 which all converge to a common center so that the operator can readily place caps over the fingers and this construction facilitates the placing of the cap on. the fingers so that as the bottle is forced between the fingers, the cap will be expanded and placed over the stopper and the neck of the bottle.

In the operation of the machine in accordance with my invention as shown in Figures 1 to 4, whether the plunger is operated by a motor or by a treadle, the plunger reciprocates and forces the bottle in the hopper out through the discharge opening into the guide members and through the fingers, it, of course, being understood that the operator has placed a gelatine or viscose cap on the fingers rior to the bottle being forced therein. s the bottle is forced through the fingers, the cap is expanded and guided over the neck of the bottle as the bottle is forced through the guide and the operator places another cap thereon, so that as one bottle is forced through the guide, another cap is placed thereon and the operation is repeated, and it will be apparent that when automatic means is provided for reciprocating the plunger, the operator only has to place another cap thereon, as soon as the bottle has been discharged so that the next bottle will receive its cap.

In the embodiment of my invention asshown in Figures 7 to 10, I have illustrated automatic means for placing capsules over the cork or stopper of bottles comprising a table 26 having a roll conveyor 27 disposed thereon for movably supporting a tray 28 on an incline as clearly shown, said tray having a plurality of partitions forming a plurality of compartments in which bottles are adapted to be disposed one upon another.

The back wall of the tray is provided with a slot 29 extending entirely across the same and communicating with the respective compartments thereof and through which is adapted to work a plunger 30 carried by an arm 31 of a reciprocating bar 32, the forward end of which is mounted in a suitable guide 33 and the rear end is mounted in a suitable guide 34 so that the bar can be reciprocated in order to reciprocate the plunger so as to force the bottles one at a time out of the compartments of the tray.

The bar 32 has a pitman 35 connected thereto carried by a crank 36 mounted on a shaft 37 on which is arranged a pulley 38 carrying a belt 39 passing over a pulley 40 carried by a shaft 41 which in turn is provided with a pulley 42 over which extends a drive belt 43 from the pulley 44 of an electric motor 45 whereby the plunger 30 will be continuously reciprocated when the motor is in operation, any suitable braking mechanism being emplo ed for stopping the reciprocation of the p unger.

The table carries a suitable guide member 46 for supporting a tray on an incline as shown so that it can be moved on the conveyor 27 which is herein shown in the form of a roll conveyor in order to properly position the various com artments in respect to the plunger so that t e bottles in each compartment can be forced outwardly and upwardly through the bottle cappin Ineans as will be hereinafter fully describe ile in the drawing I have shown the bottle supporting means in the form of a hopper and in the form of a tray, I am, of course, aware that various other means for supporting the bottles can be employed, and therefore, I do not wish to limit myself to any par ticular construction of bottle supporting means.

Disposed on the table adjacent its forward edge is a member 47 having an opening 48 provided with a shelf 49 adapted to receive the bottles as they are forced from the bottle supporting means, said member having an upwardly extending plate 50 for preventing the bottles within the tray from moving forwardly to any extent. The shelf has a receiving end 51 and delivery end 52, the receiving end extending rearwardly towards the tray so as to receive the bottle as it is forced from the tray by the plunger 30.

Arranged ad acent each side of the opening 48 of the member 47 is a yieldable guide 53 preferably formed of wire, these guides being substantially V-shaped having the points of the V converging towards one another so that a capsule as shown at 54 can be readily placed over the guide by the operator and held in such osition that'when the bottle as shown at 55 1s forced throu h the guide, the capsule carried thereby will e expanded in order to allow it to ride over the neck of the bottle so that as the bottle is forced therethrough, the capsule will be properly positioned over the cork or stopper in the neck of the bottle and as the capsule is flexible, as soon asthe cap has been positioned thereon it contracts in order to properly place the capsule over the bottle neck so as to completeiy enclose the stopper or cork as the case may It will be no'ed that in the embodiment of my invention as shown in Figures 7 to 10, the plunger 30 is formed small in comparison to the size of the bottle illustrated so that as the bottle is discharged from the tray, the bottle above the bottle discharged drops on the,

plunger on the forward stroke of the plunger on an incline for the reason that as the plunger moves forward carrying the bottle with it, the rear end of the bottle is unsupported before the forward end thereof so that the rear end of the bottle drops downwardly as soon as the plunger forces the bottle through the member 47.

I have found that by having the plunger constructed in this manner that the bottle will be maintained in the tray and can be fed properly therefrom without any danger of more than one bottle being fed at a time.

In the operation of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention'as illustrated in Figures 7 to 10, the tray of bottles is arranged on the conveyor with one of the compartments in alignment with the opening 48 of the guide and the machine is started and as the plunger reciprocates, it is only necessary for the operator to place a cap over the yieldable guide members with one hand and as the bot le is forced through the guide members by the plunger, the cap is properly posltioned thereon and drops into the other hand of the operator so that the operator can place a cap on the guide with one hand and receive a capped bottle with the other hand e which allows the capsato be readily placed in position upon the bottles and after all the bottles in one compartment. of the tray have 1 been discharged therefrom, it is only necessary to move the tray forwardly so that another compartment will be in position to be operated on by the plunger.

,QF-rQm the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided mechanical means for applying gelatine caps over the corks or stoppers of bottles having expansible means for holdin the cap in such a position that the bottle can e forced through said expansible means in order to expand the cap and allow it to ride over the neck of the bottle so that it I will contract when released and while I have shown certain details of construction for obtaining this result, I do not wish to limit myself to these details as I am aware that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is 1. A device for film capping stoppered bottles, comprising a support apertured for the reception of the bottle, an annulus formed b a series of movable fingers positioned -mally positioned toreceive and engage a resilient stretchable gelatin capsule of a length to embrace the stopper and neck of the bottle when said capsule is in a softened condition, said fingers normally converging inwardly such that a bottle neck of smaller size than said body will contact with said fingers prior to the completion of its movement therethrough.

3. A device for filmcapping stoppered bottles comprising a support apertured for the passage of a bottle therethrough, a plurality of yieldable members projectin from said support and normall converging to receive and engage the sides of a resilient stretchable gelatin capsule of a length to embrace the stopper and neck of the bottle when said capsule is in a softened condition, said members in normal position defining a space substantially smaller than the bottle neck and means for axially moving a bottle to cause the bottle neck to engage said yieldable. members and expand the same outwardly and thereby stretch the capsule over the bottle neck.

4. A device. for film capping stoppered bottles comprising a support a ertured for the passage of a bottle, a plura ity of yieldable fingers normally positioned to receive and engage a softened resilient stretchable gelatin capsule of a len h to embrace the stopper and neck of a ottle, said fingers converging so as to be engaged by the bottle and expanded outwardly as the bottle passes therethrough.

5. A device for film capping stoppered bottles comprisin a support apertured for the passage of a bottle, a plurality of yieldable fingers normally posltioned to receive and engage a softened resilient stretchable gelatin capsule of a length to embrace the stopper and neck of the bottle, said fingers converging so as to be engaged by the bottle neck and expanded outwardly while the neck passes therethrough, said fingers also being positioned to permit an enlarged body portion of the bottle to pass outwardly through the same without expanding said fingers While the capsule is mounted thereon sulficiently to injure the same.

6. A device for film capping stoppered bottles comprising a holder adapted to receive a resilient stretchable film cap of a length to embrace the stopper and neck of a bottle and normally of less diameter, and means for simultaneously expanding said holder and forcing both the stopper and neck of the bottle therethrough to remove the cap therefrom.

7. A device for film capping stoppered bottles comprising a holder for receiving a resilient stretchable film cap of a length to embrace the stopper and neck of the bottle and normally of less diameter, said holder being formed of an annular series of resilient flexible fingers and a support therefor apertured for the passage of the bottle therethrough, and means for pushing the bottle through said aperture into engagement with said holder to expand the film cap sufficiently to pass over the stopper and neck of the bottle and to then disengage said film cap from said holder.

8. A device for film capping stoppered bottles comprising a holder adapted to receive a resilient stretchable film cap of a length to embrace the stopper and neck of a bottle and normally of less diameter and means for expanding said holder and forcing both the stopper and neck of the bottle therethrough to remove the cap therefrom.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

HAROLD W. GOEWEY. 

